J.K. Rowling has said that the film will start in New York, around 1920, seventy years before the Harry Potter series, and will feature Newton Scamander as a main character. It is unclear whether the rest of the film will be set in New York.[5]Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them tells us that Scamander had been travelling the world in research of magical creatures since 1918, culminating with the publication of his masterpiece in 1927.

Warner Bros approached Rowling about using the book for a film, from which she pitched "an idea that [she] couldn't dislodge".[5] Upon returning to Harry Potter for the first time since 2007, Rowling commented: "I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it."[5] She stated that the idea of seeing Scamander "realised by another author was difficult," hence her decision to be the film's screenwriter. As of the film's announcement, there is no set date for when it might go into production.[6]

On May 13, 2014, it was announced the first film will be released on November 18, 2016.[3]

On 6 October, 2014, J. K. Rowling posted the cryptic message "Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won’t tolerate this nonsense." on her official Twitter account.[8] She confirmed the following day that this message was a riddle, and the solution, while not part of the script, was the first sentence of a synopsis of Newt Scamander's story.[9] The anagram was solved later that day, with Rowling confirming the solution of "Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours."[10]